Snow blankets county

January 26, 2013

Area road departments and police forces had a full Friday trying to keep roads clear and help motorist make it to their destinations safely.

The reason, of course, being snow.

Meteorologist Brad Rehak with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh reported that a "low pressure system swinging through the Great Lakes" was responsible for the storm that dumped as much as 4 inches of snow throughout the area.

Article Photos

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night ... letter carrier Tom Ivill, of Steubenville, knows the drill. Here, he delivers mail to the Herche-Bloor Pharmacy, 104 E. Fourth St., during Friday’s winter storm, which dropped more than four inches of snow in the East Liverpool area. The snow tapered off in the late afternoon, and the winter weather advisory expired at 1 this morning. (Photo by Stephen Huba)

As Rehak predicted, major snowfall died down around 4 p.m. as the system made its way out of the area. Light snow was expected, sporadically, throughout the evening Friday.

In Calcutta, road supervisor Scott Barrett reported all four of the township's plow trucks were in action plowing and applying material to St. Clair Township's roadways.

Barrett advised that road salt applied by his crews during the morning hours while temperatures remained around 12 degrees was proving ineffective, adding that road salt stops working when temperatures dip below 15 degrees. Instead of salt, Barrett's crews were applying number eight slag to help both plow trucks and motorists gain traction on the slick roadways

East Liverpool dispatcher Pat Scafide reported two wrecks occurring on St Clair Township roadways as of 2:30 p.m., however, Barrett reported seeing 4-5 crashes himself while plowing earlier in the day.

Officer Adam Little of the Salineville Police Department reported road conditions as "terrible" in Salineville. He advised a head-on crash had occurred on East Main Street in the village, and that three people involved in the crash had to be transported to an area hospital while two others refused treatment at the scene.